Tiffin School: Introduction and Background

Information for applicants to
non-teaching posts at Tiffin                                                                  TIFFIN
                                                                                              SCHOOL
DEPUTY GROUNDSPERSON                                                                          engage  aspire  excel
                                                                                             www.tiffin.kingston.sch.uk

Thank you for your interest in this post. I do hope that in reading this information about the post and
School, and by looking at our website, you will feel inspired to submit an application. With a vibrant and
friendly staff, and a sports ground close to Hampton Court Palace and the River Thames, Tiffin is an
excellent school to work in. I look forward to receiving your application.
Mike Gascoigne, Headteacher
Tiffin School:
Introduction and Background
Tiffin School is a boys’ selective state school, with
a mixed sixth form, of nearly 1,400 pupils located
in the centre of Kingston upon Thames. Its origins
date back to 1638, and it has occupied its current
site in the heart of Kingston since 1929. Today,
Tiffin School is one of the leading state schools in
the country, educating students from Kingston
and its surrounding areas in South West London.
The School attracts students from a wide range of
diverse backgrounds, and is judged to be
outstanding by Ofsted.
The School is highly acclaimed for its ethos of combining the outstanding academic achievement of a
traditional grammar school environment, with a wide offering of activities particularly in sport and the
performing and creative arts. Rugby, cross-country, rowing, basketball, badminton, cricket and tennis all
thrive, and regular Saturday fixtures are held at our sports grounds at Hampton Court. This is captured in
the School’s vision statement “Inspiring students to engage, aspire and excel.”

Groundstaff at Tiffin School
                                                        Our Grounds Team play a vital role in ensuring that
                                                        Tiffin School’s Sports Ground is of the highest
                                                        standard for pupils doing games on the curriculum,
                                                        for inter-school matches, and for the provision of
                                                        sporting pitches to the wider community to whom
                                                        we hire pitches year round. Our sports ground is
                                                        fantastically situated at Summer Road, East Molesey,
                                                        with the River Thames and Hampton Court Palace
                                                        very close by.

                                                        The 30 acres of grounds are in a beautiful setting, and
                                                        contain two pavilions, related parking, and
                                                        some outbuildings.

The grounds are maintained on behalf of both the School and the Old Tiffinian’s association (Tiffinian
Association Ltd). The pitches are used from Monday to Saturday by the School in term time, and at the
weekends by the Old Tiffinian’s association and other external lettings. The School takes sport very
seriously and plays competitively to a high level with other state and independent schools. Indeed, famous
Tiffin pupils have included England Cricket Captain Alec Stewart, and current Surrey cricketer Arun

Harinath, as well as club rugby players, all of whom learnt their sport at school, at Grist’s. It is therefore
extremely important that our pitches and cricket squares are maintained to a high standard.

Throughout the Winter Term and most of the Spring Term we operate regular Saturday fixtures in Rugby,
and in the Summer Term we have regular Saturday cricket fixtures. This means the School will often field
up to 6 matches on a Saturday against another school, hosting visiting teams as well as parents. Every
afternoon during the week a different year group of students goes down to the playing fields for their
sports, and often there are also mid-week matches. In the Spring Term we host a Rugby Sevens tournament,
and in the Summer Term a special cricket match against the MCC. Alongside these activities, football is also
regularly played at the ground. Currently the grounds are laid out for 4 rugby and 3 football pitches in the
winter, and four cricket squares and pitches, as well as an athletics track in the summer.

There are also two pavilions at the grounds, one of which is the School pavilion, with the other mostly used
by the Old Tiffinian’s. In addition, there is a significant amount of grounds equipment including tractor,
mowers and other items which are kept in a special garage.

The small Grounds team is run by the Sports Estates Manager who oversees the overall planning and
operation of the grounds across the year. You will work most closely with the Head Groundsperson who
sets out your weekly work and is responsible for the delivery of quality playing surfaces for all teams, and
achieving the weekly requirements for pitch provision. He also oversees the training, safety and
development of the Grounds Team, including training in safe practices and use of machinery around the
grounds. The Sports Estates Manager will line manage both you and the Head Groundsperson.

We work to a flexible timetable that allows us to
meet the changing demands of the seasons. This
requires that some working days, at various
times in the year, are longer and others shorter.
We strive to ensure that we get the pitches to
match standard across the year whatever the
obstacles. We also ensure that the school pavilion
is as presentable as our pitches so that visitors
from other schools and clubs are impressed by
our standards. Other jobs such as hedge
trimmings,     path    clearing    and general
maintenance also fall within our remit. Further
external training will be provided as you grow
into the role.

Tiffin has a proud history of being able to provide good quality pitches for sporting fixtures and providing
the right environment for its 1400 pupils that visit the site during the week for games. On games and match
days you will meet many of the coaching staff and be liaising with them to ensure proper pitch rotation
across the week. Within a small team it is essential that good relationships are fostered to ensure things go
smoothly.

You will, over time be required to work alone when covering elements of the role for the Head
Groundsperson during periods of annual leave.

This job offers much variety in the tasks you will have to perform and the goals you will have to achieve.
When work is in part dictated by the weather you must be versatile enough to see through the challenges
and get the job done. There is an immense degree of satisfaction in seeing and being recognised for
delivering quality playing surfaces.

Please see the job description and person specification for more detail.

Tiffin’s Location:
Kingston upon Thames
The School’s Kingston town site provides all of its
teaching and learning facilities and some sports
facilities. The School is also very fortunate to have
its extensive playing fields in Hampton Court,
where sport is played every afternoon, and at
weekends, and its own boathouse in Kingston.
Our sports ground is beautifully situated with the
River Thames and Hampton Court Palace very
close by.

School Facilities
The School has very good facilities which have been developed over the years. The centre of the School is
arranged around a garden that has the original 1929 building matched with the award winning, Learning
and Resources Centre (LRC) built in 2004. The six main buildings which make up the site, together provide
extensive facilities such as twelve fully equipped science laboratories, three art rooms and a drama studio.
There is a large hall for assemblies which is also used for public performances, as well as a separate Dining
Room and Sports Centre. The School is continuing to follow its master plan for the development of the site,
and a new 2-storey building was constructed to house a dining hall and 5 more classrooms in 2018. We
have just completed a £2.5 million extension to our Sports Centre on the School Site.
The School site in Kingston contains our all-weather floodlit artificial pitch (see below). In addition, our
playing fields at Hampton Court provide extensive playing facilities for rugby, cricket, cross country and
football, and our boathouse, which we run in partnership with Kingston Rowing Club, is by the Thames
near the centre of Kingston. We are most fortunate to have such facilities available that allow us to provide
a range of sporting opportunities for our students and also provide a source of funding through third party
lettings in the evenings and at weekends.
Professional Development
Tiffin invests in its staff through
both     internal    and     external
professional development. Yet we
also give a trust to our staff, as
professionals, to carry out their job
with the minimum bureaucracy
necessary.     All staff undergo
induction. In all aspects of the
support and administrative life of
the School, Tiffin is fortunate to
have a dedicated and committed
support staff that allow the School
to operate in such an effective way.
Staff and their Welfare
There are at present about 70 teaching staff and 40 non-teaching staff at Tiffin. The School is a most friendly
place to work, and there is an excellent and vibrant mix of both experienced and newer staff. It is a place
where young staff can learn and progress, or older staff can hone their talents. There is a very good
camaraderie among the staff, helped by the socials and events which are organised. Welfare of staff is a
key concern of the management. We have our own salary scales which reflect the local government scales
for Outer London, and non-teaching staff are able to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Where the
type of work requires it, uniform and Personal Protective Equipment will be made available.

Safeguarding of Children
                                                          REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS ACT 1974
                                                          (EXCEPTIONS) ORDER 1974 (AS AMENDED IN
                                                          2013)
                                                         Tiffin School is committed to safeguarding and
                                                         promoting the welfare of children and young people
                                                         and expects all staff to share this commitment. The
                                                         post you are applying for is subject to an order under
                                                         Section 4(4) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
                                                         1974. Applicants must therefore provide information
                                                         about all: convictions, cautions, warnings,
                                                         reprimands, binding over or other orders, pending
                                                         prosecutions, criminal investigations that are not
                                                         “protected” as defined by the Rehabilitation of
                                                         Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as
                                                         amended in 2013).

  Equal Opportunities
  Tiffin School is an equal opportunities employer and its policies, including the need to guard against false
  assumptions based on an applicant’s sex, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, disability,
  religion, age, marital status, working pattern, sexual orientation or gender reassignment, are followed at all
  stages of the selection procedure.

  How to apply
Please access our website, (www.tiffinschool.co.uk), for information on the vacancy and an application form.
Please e-mail to Liz Scott at lscott@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk by noon on 22nd February 2021.

Tiffin School Deputy Groundsperson
Person Specification
                    Essential                                  Desirable
Qualifications      Reasonable level of literacy and           GCSE level education,
                    numeracy                                   including English and Maths

                    Fluent English speaking                    Full driving licence with no
                                                               penalty points

                                                               A Qualification related to
                                                               groundswork
Experience          Practical level of outdoor & “hands on”    Experience of some outdoor
                    work.                                      work

                    Working for an organisation/small          Experience of using
                    business with a command structure.         machinery and tools safely

                    Working in a team environment.             Experience of dealing with
                                                               members of the public

                                                               Experience of similar
                                                               groundswork
Skills, knowledge   Ability to cope with physical demands of
and aptitude        job

                    Practical skills

                    Willingness to work outdoors in all
                    weathers

                    Good communication skills

                    Ability to work alone, on own initiative

                    Flexible approach to work

                    Ability to take on relevant elements of
                    the Head Groundsperson’s role in their
                    absence.

Tiffin School Deputy Groundsperson
Job Description
Line of Responsibility: The Sports Estate Manager

Job Purpose:
The Deputy Groundsperson works under the direction of the Sports Estate Manager in order to carry out the
maintenance and care of the facilities at Grist’s and, when directed, maintenance work on the MUGA and
playing field on the school site.
Operational
   Maintaining the lawns, playing fields and hard court areas to a standard required by school teams and
    relevant football, cricket and rugby organisations.
   Mowing and marking out of the pitches as required.
   End of season renovations across all pitches.
   Ensuring that pitches and goals are safe and fit for purpose.
   Using tractors and other mechanical equipment, maintain the school grounds and parking areas.
   Ensuring that all grounds equipment is maintained to a safe and serviceable condition and workshop
    facilities are kept clean and tidy.
   Assist in the upkeep and cleaning of the pavilions as directed.
   To assist with the maintenance of the MUGA and other playing surfaces on the school site.
   Assisting in the marking out of pitches for various sporting events and parking arrangements.
   Maintaining woodland and scrub areas to a safe and healthy condition
   Assisting with various clerical duties including record keeping and safety documentation.
   Overseeing contractors or suppliers working for the department.
   You will be expected take on relevant elements of the Head Groundsman’s responsibilities during any
    periods of annual leave, time off and sickness.

General
   Assisting in the clearance of ice and snow when necessary.
   Sweeping footpaths and external entrances on a regular basis or as directed
   Checking and maintaining boundary fencing / other fencing on a regular basis
   Cleaning and maintaining directional signs when necessary.
   This list is not exhaustive and you may be asked to carry out other reasonable tasks by management
    when necessary.
   Training will be provided where necessary to meet personal needs and job specific requirements
   All duties to be undertaken in accordance with the school’s child protection and safeguarding policy

Duties & Responsibilities
Main duties and responsibilities are indicated above. Other duties of an appropriate level and nature may
also be required, as directed by the Headteacher.

Conditions of Employment
       The above responsibilities are subject to the general duties and responsibilities contained in the
        written statement of conditions of employment (the Contract of Employment).
       The post holder is required to support and encourage the school’s ethos and its objectives, policies
        and procedures as agreed by the governing body.
       The post holder is required to uphold the school's policy in respect of child protection matters.

   The post holder shall be subject to all relevant statutory and institutional requirements.
   The post holder may be required to perform any other reasonable tasks after consultation.
   This job description allocates duties and responsibilities but does not direct the particular amount of
    time to be spent on carrying them out and no part of it may be so constructed.
   This job description is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post. It will be reviewed at
    least once a year and it may be subject to modification at any time after consultation with the post
    holder.
   All staff participate in the school’s performance management scheme.